Dylan Cease’s crazy asking price will make Phillies glad they already signed Nola

The MLB offseason free agent and trade markets are starting to get rolling, now that the Winter Meetings have come to a close. More names are being officially linked to teams and the asking prices are starting to come out.

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the market for another starting pitcher, even if it’s not the highest priority after Aaron Nola’s re-signing. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said as much in Nashville this week, per The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey.

It’s not that it’s not on our agenda,” Dombrowski said about starting pitching. “I’ve got the list of names and all that, but I’m hopeful we’ll be able to add more, yes.”

One pitcher whose name has continually appeared in trade speculation around the league is Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease. However, the recently divulged asking price for the 27-year-old is, for now, set at such an outrageous level that the Phillies won’t, hopefully, even bother picking up the phone to call Sox general manager Chris Getz.

According to Bruce Levine, an analyst for WSCR-AM and 670 The Score in Chicago, the White Sox asked the Cincinnati Reds for four high-end prospects, including their No. 2 prospect, right-handed pitcher Rhett Lowder, and their No. 6 prospect Chase Petty, another right-hander.

Chicago also asked for the Reds’ ninth- and eleventh-ranked position prospects: No. 13 catcher Alfredo Duno and No. 17 outfielder Jay Allen II.

The reason for the high price tag? The arbitration-eligible Cease is under team control for two more seasons with a very attractive estimated 2024 salary of $8.8 million. Plus, Getz and the White Sox aren’t feeling intense pressure to move their top starter immediately as they wait for the market to play out, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.